University of Wisconsin-Madison Reverses Plan to Suspend MBA

Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Vonbloompasha / WikiCommons

The University of Wisconsin-Madison's School of Business backed off of a plan to suspend admissions to the full-time MBA.

Just one week before, officials announced that they would consider shutting down the two-year MBA during a review of the school's business strategy.
The move would have made WM the latest business school to phase out its flagship program after Iowa (Tippie),
Virginia Tech (Pamplin), Wake Forest, Thunderbird, and Simmons College. However, this proposal raised concerns among current students and alumni
about the value of the WM business degree in the market.

More than 750 students and alumni signed an online petition
that called to "maintain and improve the full-time program rather than dissolve it for lower-intensity MS degrees".
WSB dean Anne Massey admitted that they decided too quickly in their plan and apologized to the students during a meeting on October 23.

"We have heard from our community of students, alumni, and friends; therefore, we are going to stop further discussion of
the one-year suspension of the full-time MBA". said Massey. "We moved too quickly without the broad consultation and discussion that our
stakeholders can and should expect".

Although the Wisconsin MBA offers a good ROI with a median starting base salary of $100,000 per year and an annual tuition of
$17,452 for Wisconsin residents (Non-resident: $35,316), the number of applicants has declined in each of the last four years.
104 students enrolled this Fall.